A book full of memories

September 19, 2006|JIM MEENAN Tribune Staff Writer

Pam Ogren remembers when she was a single mother of a 10-year-old girl. "I had a good job but we never had extra money to travel and do big vacations," she said. "I was always conscious of trying to do things that were fun and to create our own traditions. "I wanted things for her so that when she grew up, she would have memories, and we would have fun things to do together." Years later, when she met her husband, Marty, she told him of her idea to put those ideas, memories and games into a book. But Marty strongly cautioned her that without some celebrities' thoughts on the subject, he didn't think the book would make it to the printers, let alone off the shelves. So four years ago, the north-side resident set out on that effort. "It was a lot of fun in the beginning, then for a couple of years, I thought this was not going to happen," she said. "I thought I would be writing it and taking it to Kinko's, and giving it to the immediate family and then letting it go." But people would come along and encourage her, and tell her what a good idea it was, and she kept at it. Well, the idea is reality, now. Some 122 pages of easy reading, featuring plenty of Ogren's ideas mixed in among those of celebrities such as Lou Holtz, Digger Phelps, Regis Philbin, Kathie Lee Gifford and Kitty and Peter Carruthers to name a few. The book, "Creating Happy Memories, 100 + Ways To Start And Strengthen Family Traditions," is on the shelves now. The goal of the book is to boost families, "and to help them realize that in a child's eyes, something does become a tradition," that a parent might think is no big deal. As an example she noted how she would bake a "Happy Birthday, Jesus" cake every year for her grandchildren. "I never gave it any thought. Now, when I say what should we do for Christmas dinner, they say 'it's a tradition, you have to have the Jesus birthday cake.'" These simple traditions connect families, Ogren believes. "There are so many families that are disconnected, there are housefuls of people that are not connected," she said, citing how one family member might be playing a video game, another listening to their I-Pod, another doing something else, all under the same roof. "It's real easy to do." For Ogren, it's her first book. It's published by Corby Books of Lakeville. "I am thrilled," she said. "I want to get it in the hands of people. It's a great gift for parents or grandparents." As for dealing with celebrities and their representatives, it was an interesting experience. Of the 300 letters she sent out, 200 let her know one way or the other if they or the celebrity they represented was willing to contribute. "It was people I was interested in or people I admired," she said. She even had some submit memories or stories that didn't quite fit what she was trying to do, so she didn't use them. "It might have been my fault that (they didn't understand what she wanted)," she said. In addition to the national celebrities, those sharing their memories include several local residents, including Lou Nanni, vice president of university relations at the University of Notre Dame, and Tribune columnist Bill Moor. The 122-page paperback, priced at $11.95, is available at Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore, on Amazon.com and eventually at Barnes and Noble. Regardless of how many it sells, Ogren believes it has a place. She thinks back to her own days as a single mom. She wanted to let her daughter have family traditions, even if she did not have the conventional two-parent home. She wants to make sure others do as well. "Some of the things we do, we don't realize the impact it has on them," she said.Staff writer Jim Meenan: jmeenan@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6342